Beautiful Progress

Fall has finally hit San Antonio and the weather is beautiful. I've yet to see many changing leaves, but the temperature really drops down in the evening. The continuous rain really saved us after almost 60 days over 100 degrees without rain (the last 2 months of my pregnancy!) We've been spending more time going to different parks around the city and just can't wait to have a free weekend to go out to the hill country for a hike.

Emily surprises me all the time with her fearless attitude on the playground. Last week we met Eli for lunch at the park and she climbed up a huge rock-wall without any help! I love to watch her play. She's totally into building blocks right now, and of course still loves playing mommy. If her attention span is good, she'll pretend to grocery shop, cook, feed her baby doll, change her diaper, sing her songs and rock her, read her books. She radiates with love around Leo, who she still calls "brudda". Whenever he starts to whimper she dashes to give him the pacifier and tries her best not to suffocate him with her hugs. She's really becoming a big girl with a new bed and potty training.

Leo is growing up fast--it's hard to believe he's almost 4 months old. He loves to roll and try to sit up alone and is really reaching for toys now. His intensity is really cool...you can tell he's going to have a lot of drive. He's a fantastic sleeper and is packing on the pounds. I think he could give us some pointers on patience!

Our lives lately have been revolving around trying to get our new house fixed up. Eli and I have been heading over after putting the kids to bed at my parents' house. The biggest project we've accomplished is painting--everything from walls to cabinets to garage doors, outside shutters, bathtub/showers, interior doors, all door frames and baseboards. I think it's safe to say we're kind of tired of painting. We lost track of how many gallons, but it's at least 30 gallons. We got new carpet, which really brightens up the place. We've fixed drywall, faucets, pulled out tree stumps, repaired the roof, took off popcorn ceilings, installed new hardware, and put up blinds. Whew...and we've still got a lot of work to do! If we keep working at this same pace, we hope to be moved in before our trip to Mississippi for Thanksgiving.

Other than that, Eli's still traveling almost every week. I dream about the day when I can sit and read or just be bored for a minute. Life however continues to speed by, and we have to enjoy every moment with the kids! At some point I'll post pictures! Emily and Leo enjoyed Halloween as a caterpillar and butterfly and have enough candy to last them until next Halloween!